Beware the Santa Compaña!

We interrupt this regularly scheduled recap of Greece to bring you some spooky Galician lore for Halloween. If you ever find yourself wandering the Galician countryside after midnight, beware of the Santa Compaña. This procession of dead just might be roaming right alongside you. They are supposedly dressed Grim Reaper-style with hooded robes. These lost souls also each carry a lit candle. You may not see them, but if dogs are howling uncontrollably, there's a mysterious breeze picking up, and a faint smell of wax in the air, the Santa Compaña is probably near.

Santa Compaña depiction from vivecamino.com

What's even more haunting is that instead of being led by the Grim Reaper himself or similar, the Santa Compaña is actually led by a living person. According to legend, it is a man or woman depending on if the parish has a male or female patron saint.* Rather than a candle, they carry a cross and/or pail of holy water. Once you become the leader of the haunted parade, you must continue your role every night until you either die of exhaustion or find a replacement. If the living leader is lucky enough to come across another person during their nightly trudge, the baton is passed and the old Santa Compaña head is free at last.

Is there no escape from the doom of leading the Santa Compaña? It would appear that you have a few options aside from running away screaming. Apparently you can also lie face down or make a circle on the ground and stand in it. You can also stand on a cruceiro (stone crosses found all over Galicia) as if it were a base in tag. Keep that in mind the next time you spot some spooks in rural Galicia. Happy Halloween/Samhain!

*Note: Parish is a land division commonly used in Galicia, but not so much in other parts of Spain. It obviously comes from Catholic parishes, meaning the houses that geographically should go to one specific church. Nowadays it's no longer 100% religious. Each town council is divided into numerous parishes (parroquías), and those are then subdivided into ¨places¨ (lugares) or ¨neighborhoods¨(barrios). For reference, in Galicia there are a little over 300 town councils and over 3,000 parishes.

The Birthplace of Western Civilization

Changing of the Guard

One of this summer's main events was spending two weeks in Greece. Making my grade-school Greek mythology geek's dreams come true! First stop was a few days in the capital, Athens. The red eye flight from Porto was useful in that we could take advantage of a full day. Not to mention the gorgeous blood-red sunrise as seen from the sky. 

After getting our bearings, the first step was to caffeinate. I'm not a coffee drinker, but when in Rome Greece, you gotta try the Greek coffee at least. We stopped in a shady plaza near a church. Despite it not even being 10 o'clock, the heat was already setting in. It was going to be a sweltering two weeks. My first experience with Greek coffee was grainy and bitter; certainly not enticing enough for a second experience. And this is where someone else's addiction to Frappes began. But with the heat, it was a no-brainer. Frappes seemed a more vacation-y beverage than just coffee over ice.

On Day 1 our big plan was to visit the Acropolis Museum. I really had high expectations, since from the little research I did, people raved about the museum, especially the upper floor, meant to resemble the Parthenon. The thing about high expectations, though...For me, it was disappointing. There was no audio guide to help you get into the experience. The displays to me seemed chaotic, although I'm sure there was a method to the madness that I just didn't understand. And as far as the top floor Parthenon, it was cool that they had so many copies of the detailed imagery, but since I was expecting to be blown away, I simply wasn't. 

Erechtheion (Temple to Athena), Acropolis

The Parthenon, Acropolis

Similarly, our morning at the Acropolis wasn't the best either. Although we had tickets, we still had to wait in line for ages just to get in. The heat was hard to bear. In fact, around the time we went, they ended up closing the Acropolis and other major sites during the hottest hours of the day, because a tourist had passed out standing in line. Yikes! And we went at 8:30 in the morning, but still it was toasty. And packed. I would recommend going in the evening when I bet it is less crowded albeit potentially no cooler.  Also, they had said that a fountain would be available once inside: a necessity under that pounding sun. But there was no fountain. At least there was a vending machine with cold water, which in Europe is limited to affordable prices (50 cents).

But I don't mean to be such a downer. It was really cool seeing those ancient stones, imagining going thousands of years ago to ask a favor of the gods, and being absolutely awed. So much history! Once again, the lack of map and audio guide was a bummer. However, you can count on Rick Steves to guide you and put you in the historical mood! In fact, one of my favorite historical sites in Athens was the Agora, and it's probably thanks to Rick Steves' audio guide (as well as a break from the heat--we went around 7pm). It was expansive, including a myriad of ruins and buildings, with a museum in the reconstructed Stoa. 

Stoa in the Ancient Agora

Another one of my favorite Athens moments was a special treat: cocktails on a rooftop bar. There are tons of options when it comes to rooftop bars and restaurants, more so than in any other place I've visited, assumedly for the Acropolis views. We went a little too early for sunset, but enjoyed our fancy selves just the same. Afterwards we had a good dinner for the same price as those two cocktails, but hey, once-in-a-lifetime trips deserve a splurge or two!

Booze with a View

The Return!

What better time to return to blogging than my favorite season, fall? (Or as all the English students here are taught, autumn.) While according to the calendar it's been fall for over three weeks, thanks to global warming, Galicia didn't get the memo until this past weekend. It had been sunny and in the 80s F (that's nearly 30ºC for all you Celsius fans) all throughout the first two weeks of October. Not normal. But now the temperatures have dropped and rain is the only symbol on the weather forecast. Time to light a fire and cozy up inside!

Seeing as the last time I wrote was almost a year ago, a lot has happened since then. It's been a big year! Including but not limited to family visits, international travel, moving, and the list goes on. The end of September also marked my 10 year Spainiversary! It's been a whole decade since I came to Galicia. Hard to believe. 

Anyways, this post was just to give fair warning: this blog is once again preparing for take off! So fasten your seatbelts and please make sure your tray is stowed and your seat is in the upright position. Or not.